Dr. Antal aims to develop ways to increase the efficacy of pancreatic cancer chemotherapy. The reason for pancreatic cancer drug resistance is the presence of a dense, supportive tissue surrounding the cancer cells. She is using multiple high-throughput approaches to identify and target key genes within this tissue in order to reduce its supportive role. This work will aid in developing therapies to increase the delivery of the chemotherapeutic drugs to the tumor, allowing immune cells to infiltrate the tumor and kill cancer cells.

Dr. Van Nostrand aims to understand how signaling pathways involved in the energetic and metabolic stress responses prevent cancer. She will generate mouse models harboring specific mutations that prevent the stress response, and evaluate the effects of these mutations on lung cancer development. Furthermore, using exercise and caloric restriction, she will elicit the metabolic stress response in these animals to understand how energetic stresses prevent cancer development and progression.